Jordan Times
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
King meets Abbas ahead of
direct talks
JT and agencies
His Majesty King Abdullah on Tuesday held talks with Palestinian President
Mahmoud Abbas on efforts to ensure the success of direct talks scheduled to be
launched in Washington tomorrow, a Royal Court statement said.
The two leaders hoped that the negotiations would lead to a “swift and
effective” solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on the basis of the
two-state solution.
His Majesty emphasised that Jordan will continue to make every effort possible
“to help the brotherly Palestinians realise their legitimate rights, especially
their right to establish their independent state on Palestinian national soil
and achieve peace within a regional context based on the Arab Peace Initiative
and agreed on terms of reference”, according to the statement.
The King and Abbas stressed that the two-state formula, which, they said,
ensures the emergence of a Palestinian state living in peace and security
side-by-side with Israel, is the only way to bring about peace and stability in
the region.
Present at the meeting were Royal Court Chief Nasser Lozi, King’s Adviser Ayman
Safadi and Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh, along with senior Palestinian
officials.
On Sunday, His Majesty flew to Washington to take part in the launch of direct
peace talks between the Palestinians and Israelis upon an invitation from US
President Barack Obama.
During the visit, the King will hold talks with the US president and attend a
meeting held by Obama with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Palestinian
President Mahmoud Abbas, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Quartet
representative Tony Blair ahead of the launch of the direct Palestinian-Israeli
negotiations on Thursday, a Royal Court statement said.
The talks between King Abdullah and Obama will “focus on the steps needed to
ensure that the direct talks bring an end to the Palestinian-Israeli dispute on
the basis of the two-state solution and within a regional context that leads to
comprehensive peace in the region as soon as possible,” a Royal Court statement
said Sunday.
Also on Tuesday, Judeh met with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on the eve
of the launch of direct talks between the Palestinians and the Israelis.
During the meeting, which was held at the State Department in Washington, DC,
Judeh and Clinton discussed issues related to the peace negotiations, the Jordan
News Agency, Petra, reported.
Clinton also began talks Tuesday with Abbas, the first in a flurry of contacts
with key players in the run-up to new direct Israeli-Palestinian talks. Agence
France-Presse reported.
Both Clinton and Abbas, flanked by top aides, smiled for the cameras as they sat
together on the eve of a high-profile White House dinner US President Barack
Obama will have with Abbas, Netanyahu and other Middle East players.
Neither gave public remarks about the hard work at hand as the chief US diplomat
prepared to host the Palestinian and Israeli leaders on Thursday for the first
direct peace talks since December 2008.
Both Abbas and Netanyahu have both spoken of their willingness to compromise.
But each bears a heavy burden of mistrust and suspicion spawned by 17 years of
largely fruitless talks punctuated by bouts of blood shedding.
Clinton was also scheduled to meet yesterday with Egyptian Foreign Minister
Ahmed Abul Gheit, former US president Jimmy Carter, and the representative for
the Middle East Quartet Blair.
The day will end with face-to-face talks with Netanyahu at 7:45pm (2345 GMT),
just ahead of Obama’s Oval Office address to the nation to discuss the end of US
combat operations in Iraq.
Top level talks in search of an elusive Middle East peace deal broke off in 2008
when Israel invaded the Palestinian Gaza Strip in what it said was a bid to halt
rocket fire on its south.
There are few illusions that the new direct talks, after months of US-sponsored
indirect negotiations, will overcome lingering Palestinian-Israeli divisions any
time soon.
Huge issues - many unresolved since the creation of Israel in 1948 - remain on
the table including the status of Jerusalem, claimed by both sides as their
capital, and the fate of Palestinian refugees chased from their lands.
The Palestinians also want a future state to be located across the whole
territory seized by Israel in the Six-Day War in 1967.
Continued Jewish settlements in Palestinian territories are seen as a major
hurdle to the peace process, with a 10-month Israeli freeze due to expire on
September 26.
Abbas has threatened to walk out of talks if settlement construction resumes,
and Netanyahu has vowed not to extend the moratorium.